THANKFUL DAY #13...

I am SOOOOO thankful for my dear husband. He is a wonderful husband, father , and friend. He works very hard to provide for our family so that I can stay home with our kids. There are times when he goes without sleep because he is working which I know I could never do! I love watching him with our kids. He has always been a very hands on Dad, involved in everything the kids are doing. Last night when I left for Bible study he was putting together the outside Christmas decorations with lots of help from Elijah. When I returned from Bible study he was sitting quietly in our living room with Emilie watching and explaining a movie to her. Even our older kids know when they need their Dad, he will be there.
I have been blessed with a man that will love me unconditionally baggage and all. And let me tell you sometimes that baggage can get pretty heavy!
I am amazed that God placed this man in my life! We are pretty opposite on some things...he is more outgoing than I am. (Never knows a stranger!) He LOVES the outdoors and I could care less about the camping and ickiness of the outdoors. But we share so many wonderful things, Our LOVE for Christ and to raise our family in a Christian home. Our love of children and the want to help as many as we can!
Thank you God for giving me the "perfect" husband for me!!

THANKFUL DAYS 11 & 12...

DAY 11: I am thankful for my baby girl Emilie. With Em around there is never a dull moment. She is either telling you a story or reading you something. She is such a joy, even when she is being difficult. I love the quiet serious moments with her. They are few but when we sit and read together or just talk I can see what a brilliant mind God has blessed her with. She was much prayed for and I know God has wonderful things planned for her.

DAY 12: I am VERY thankful for our baby boy, Elijah. I could write a book about how thankful I am but I won't. Over the last 3 Thanksgiving holidays I have begged God that he just be here next year. Well...the year is here. I look so forward to sharing this holiday and many others with him. To see things through a young ones eyes again and watch them experience it all for the first time is amazing. I am so thankful he is ours and God blessed us with such an active healthy baby boy.

Blessings~
Tina

BEING THANKFUL...DAYS 4-10...

I did not forget my thankful post countdown to Thanksgiving. I just got sick with a wonderful bug for a few days and fell behind. (Poor excuse, I know!) I am going to try and catch up...so here it goes!

DAY 4: I am thankful for all of the wonderful people we have met, either in person or via blog, facebook, or yahoo group, that are such wonderful adoption support. I know without a doubt if I have any questions or concerns that these people are there to help and support. What a great gift that is. We have made some tremendous friendships throughout our adoption. Such a wonderful blessing!

DAY 5: I am thankful for my friends. The ones that I can call when I am happy, sad, mad, or just blah! I know these friends will listen without out judging me! They will pray for me when I ask them to and lift me up when I need it. They will laugh with me, cry with me, vent with me and or just be with me. Thank you my wonderful friends!

DAY 6: I am thankful for ALL of my parents. This includes the in-laws as well! I know when needed they are all always there. They have helped us through the last few years and longed for our little guy as much we have. They take care of our kiddos when needed and what a blessing that has been. It is tough when they end up sick because you just never think you will be there! Recently my Dad had 2 stints put in and was diagnosed diabetic. It has been tough and they are still working to get things regulated and right through the VA. I remember thinking...I am not ready to be here yet! I felt the same way a few years ago when we were going through all of this with my in laws as well! SO...today I am thankful they are all 4 here and doing pretty well.

DAY 7: I am thankful for my sibling in laws. I have the best! They are all more like my bios than in laws. I love each one of them and am so thankful to be a part of their families!

DAY 8: I am thankful for my sister and brothers. They are a HUGE blessing to me. My sister and I have found a new closeness the last few years and I love that! We have shared SO much together and it so helps when you are just having a moment and she gets it like no one else would. My life is so much more full with her in it. I have one older brother and one younger. They are both good men. They have struggled throughout their lives but they have overcome so much to be who they are now. I love that my kiddos LOVE their Uncle Joe and all of his wacky ideas and jokes. He can make them laugh like no one else. Elijah is still figuring Uncle Joe out but he thinks he is pretty cool.

Day 9: I am thankful for my oldest girl Tifanie. What a blessing she is. She has been so helpful coming and watching the younger two when we need it. It is hard for us because we don't like leaving them with a sitter. I see our relationship shifting some the older she gets. I love talking and visiting with her. I know she is headed for great things. My first born...what a blessing!

Day 10: I am thankful for my oldest son, Randy. Randy is growing up and all too soon it will be his turn to leave the nest. He is such a joy to have around that I know I will struggle when he is gone. I love that he will still come to be and talk and ask my advice. I also love the relationship he has with his older sister now. I see their relationship growing and I love seeing their friendship grow!

SO...now I am caught up. Hopefully, I will get on track since Thanksgiving is THIS week! A few special notes:
1. I turned 40 today!!!!!!! My goodness where did those years go? I remember when I thought 40 was SO old. HA
2. Elijah has been home with us exactly 9 months today. YEAH! That means tomorrow he will have officially been with us longer than he was without us! I LOVE that. He is one of my greatest joys!!

Blessings to all~
Tina

THANKFUL DAY #3

Today I am thankful for the freedom to go to Church and worship God. What a blessing that is. There are times when I just sit and look around the room at our Church family and I am filled with love and peace. God placed us in this small Church about 3 yrs ago and we have been blessed by them every since. It is filled with wonderful loving people.
I love watching Elijah now walk in (as if he owned the place!) and tell everyone hi. He is not shy...young and old get his wonderful smile and a very loud HI! They love us as much as we love them!! They have helped pray our little guy home and so many other thing they have prayed us through.
We are blessed by Clay County Christian.

Blessings~
Tina

BEING THANKFUL...

It is not hard this year to come up with several reasons that I am thankful. We have truly had a blessed 2010. In years past I would choose something I was thankful for each day leading up to Thanksgiving Day. Let me tell you as we journeyed through the last 2 years of our adoption it got a little harder to put on that thankful face! (I know BAD me!) I was and am always and forever thankful for my children, husband, family and many other things. BUT during the last of our wait...I didn't really want to be thankful about anything! I know that sounds bad but it was how I began to feel.
SO...as I start this year's Thankful posts, I will begin with God first! I am thankful He walked with me throughout all of it and continues to walk with me today. I am thankful He never said "well since she is not really being sincere I shall turn my back on her until she comes around." I never doubted His love for me BUT there were times when I was begging him for a reason why!!!??? I have learned a lot in the almost 4 yrs since we decided to adopt. A lot about God and so much more about me!
SO...Thank you God for ALWAYS being there and for carrying us through those dark days!

Blessings~
Tina

HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY!!

YES...I am a day late get this done. But none-the-less, I am so very thankful for the many freedoms I take advantage of and many are due to the fact that many veterans were willing to sacrifice for me and everyone else. I am especially proud of my Dad and father-in-law, who both served in Vietnam. Then there is my hubby, who is still serving his country willingly and proudly. And last and certainly not least my son who has just begun his journey of serving his country. He says he is not yet a veteran but I tell him that he will be and that is what matters when I am thanking him.
I went shopping yesterday and as I walked in HyVee and saw so many Veterans (young and old) sharing their breakfast together and sharing their stories together, it brought tears to my eyes. It reminds me of the connection that Don and our Dads share. They just get it with each other, almost without the words but with a look. I know that connection will be shared between him and our son as well.
So...I am going to begin my yearly "THANKFUL" posts with this today. I am VERY thankful to all of the men and women who are willing to go where so many of us are not! May you all be blessed abundantly!

Blessings~
Tina

PARTY AND TRICK OR TREAT...

Emilie had her very first "costume" party on the 30th. We don't do "scary" here so we sent out invitations requesting kids dress as their favorite tv or movie character and in nothing scary. Elijah would have been stressed anyway! I think they all had a good time. They played Fear Factor, which was fun and then played some other games as well. Emilie was a CSI agent and Elijah was the very famous BLUE from Blues Clues! :) Tifanie and Randy were AWESOME to stick around on their Saturday night and help me. They even dressed up for the occasion as well. I have pretty great kids!
We did go trick or treating in our home town. Elijah just went visiting as I did not really want him to have the candy! Em decided this was to be her last year. She was kind of bored by the time we were done. When we got home, Don had to take our little Blue around to show his buddies. Elijah enjoyed the attention and this time he DID get candy. In fact, at one of the houses he thought he would just take their entire candy bowl. He sat his bucket down and picked their bowl full of candy up! It was pretty funny.
It is hard to believe we are already into November. Some days I feel like we just got home from Ethiopia and others it feels like a lifetime ago.
Many changes are headed our way in 2011. Some are good and some not so good so I think I will hold tight to 2010 and try to enjoy every minute of it!
Here are a few pics of our Halloween weekend:

"Here's the mail it never fails it makes me want to wag my tail and when it comes I want to wail MMMAAAIIILLL!" The little guy LOVES when mail comes on Blues Clues. I love how his little hands are crossed here.

This is one of the teams for the games...Randy's team along with Elijah who tried to get involved as much as he could!!

This was the other team...Tifanie's team. They were having fun!!

We only did a little decorating...a spider web with orange and black spiders.

*My thankful posts will follow in a week or so. I really think about blogging everyday...but then I just run out of time! Chasing a toddler keeps me very busy!! BUT I am loving every minute of it!! Hoping our re-adoption will be completed soon. Who knew we lived in such a finicky county in MO!!

Blessing to all~